Leaving a Mark By Sophie Corbett, Carondelet Senior

College Park Mural at Aquatics Center [2 Images]
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The
College Park High School pool deck has a brand new mural thanks to recent
graduate Tyler Shaver. In his four years at College Park, Tyler was extremely
involved in both water polo and swimming, so a giant mural seemed a fitting way
to give back to the aquatics program. “I was inspired by past projects completed by the CP leadership
and sports leadership programs, and I wanted to give something back to the
school and aquatics programs that gave so much to me. I came up with the idea
to paint an aquatics mural on the gym wall by the pool deck on the second day
of my senior year and decided I was going to accomplish this before I graduated,”
said Tyler.

The
process was not an easy one. After working with a graphic designer, Tyler had
to

get
approval from the College Park administration, followed by approval from the
Mount Diablo Unified School District, which took almost four months. He was
then able to secure funding from the College Park Athletics Booster Club for
the paint for the project. One of the toughest obstacles was the design had to
be projected onto the wall in order to be traced. This included lots of
equipment and had to completed in one night. Another hurdle included figuring
out how to get high enough to paint the mural since the wall is almost 30 feet
tall. Luckily, Tyler received a generous donation of a scissor lift from Cresco
Equipment Rental in order to complete the project. The painting of the mural
began in early June. After a long process that lasted the entire school year,
Tyler’s idea finally came to fruition with the help of the College Park
athletic director, a graphic designer, his family, and many volunteers. He is
extremely grateful for everyone who made this project possible.

Tyler’s
dedication to the College Park aquatics program comes to life in his mural. The
water polo player in the mural bears the same number on his cap as Tyler’s,
#23. His goal was to give back to the community, and he certainly did that.
When asked what the biggest thing he learned from this process was, Tyler said,
“I learned
project management - specifically how to take a big and seemingly arduous
project from an idea to reality. I also learned that when I want to
accomplish something I set my mind to, I'll do whatever it takes to get it
accomplished.”